Endure as Christ Endured

Sounds a lot like what Jesus Christ went through when He was on this earth.

1 Peter 4:12-14 "12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial that has come upon you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13But rejoice that you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed at the revelation of His glory. 14If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.…"

Trusting in Christ Alone

Those who placed their trust in the leader they voted for will not have the strength to endure whatever is coming.

Psalm 146:3-5

"3 Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.

4 His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day, his thoughts perish.

5 Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God:"

We are living in deep days of deception, nothing is as it seems, all the time everywhere.

2 Corinthians 11:13-15

"For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds."

Did you see these words in this passage? "And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light." AND, the words; "deceitful workmen."

These people will claim to be whatever we want to believe about them, but they are devils disgusting themselves as angels of light. There are many clues that prove them false but those who wish to have their ears tickled will ignore or excuse away all those clues.

Trust in Christ alone, then you will not be devastated when things go awry, and they are going to become unbearable for those without hope.

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Keep Looking Up!

Brothers and Sisters in Christ, keep looking up, Jesus Christ is our hope, nothing else on this earth matters anymore now except that we obey Christ, He will take care of all the rest.

If you do not see your desires being fulfilled the way you wish then remember that God knows better than us what we need and what fulfills His purposes.

Hebrews 1:3 - Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

Isaiah 53:3 - He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Psalm 16:9-11

9 Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices;

My flesh also will dwell securely.

10 For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol;

Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.

11 You will make known to me the path of life;

In Your presence is fullness of joy;

In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.

Cringe Worthy Cultural Christianity

Whenever I hear the words, "so and so was converted to Christianity" I cringe a little.

Conversion is not what God wanted, He wanted a transformation by His power in the life of those who believe on Him.

Often "converts" make their choice to be a Christian without a confession of their sinfulness, therefore they have not become born again by the Spirit of God.

These people learn all the cultural standards of those who attend church but are not dedicated to loving God or even His Word. They learn a few verses usually out of context and the rest of their philosophy is lived by cultural cliches that they think come from the Bible but that God never said.

We know their heart because when they are confronted with Biblical truth they fight to defend their sin and error. They "say" they are Bible believers but in reality, they are not.

Matthew 15:7-9 "…7 You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you: 8 ‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. 9 They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’ ”

Looking to Jesus Christ Alone, Looking Up!!!!

If you think that Trump winning is going to save America take a look at what he has been saying and has lived by all his life.

""“I play to people’s fantasies,” Donald Trump wrote in his 1987 memoir, The Art of the Deal. “I call it truthful hyperbole,” he explained. “It’s an innocent form of exaggeration — and a very effective form of promotion.” Copywritten in 1987

Pretending to be a Christian was one of the "fantasies" he projected to gain votes.

America is in big trouble no matter who wins the election. Any Christian who is looking to this world for a leader to protect them is going to be vulnerable to the ploys and tricks of the antichrist.

Character is the at the Root of all Actions

One cannot compartmentalize character! One can hide it for a time for a purpose, but the character will come out eventually in devastating ways.

Whatever is hidden will emerge eventually when there is no longer a need to hide it.

Think about it!

Character Matters in our Choice of Friends and Leaders

Character matters, it is what drives us to either keep our word or tell lies to win an argument.

Character matters, it is what motivates us to do the right thing or the wrong thing.

Our country ignores monstrous flaws in character as long as the people are getting what makes them feel safe.

Words are almost nothing, only 7 percent of communication is words, that leaves 93 percent body language, facial expressions and actions that express the true self.

The public persona is almost nothing, it is fabricated to fit a given situation or a group of people.

It is the private life of someone that reveals the true self. This cannot always be seen by others but a discerning believer can see character flaws or blessings because of Christ Who lives in them.

Matthew 7:15-20

A Tree and Its Fruit

15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

16 You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?

17 So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.

18 A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.

19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

20 So then, you will [c]know them by their fruits."

God also said this;

Galatians 5:22-23

"22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."

The fruit of the Spirit are the character qualities of Christ and every believer can see them in other believers. Those who say you cannot know the heart of a man are ignoring all the scriptures that warn us to watch the walk of brothers and sisters so that we will not be drawn into their errors and become like the false believers.

1 Corinthians 15:33-34 "33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good character.” 34 Sober up as you ought, and stop sinning; for some of you are ignorant of God. I say this to your shame.…"

We can discern false Christians by the way they live their life, the things they say, and their ignorance of scriptures with no desire to know the heart of God. Those who do not love God but claim to be believers will fight and argue against the Word of God. A born again believer does not argue against God's word they love it, embrace it, and go to it for instruction to obey it.

John 14:15 "15 If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. "

John 10:27-28

"27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand."

A born again believer does not fight against correction from the word of God. The born again believer has a great love for God first and then for others. They never walk in pride to be superior, they have a heart for the lost and a deep love of the brethren.

True believers understand the nature of love, they do not fall into the trap of cultural superficial love that has little to no value.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

4 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, 5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

If we live for Christ we will love God first and then our neighbors as much as we love ourselves.

Matthew 22:36-40

36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”

37 And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’

38 This is the great and [a]foremost commandment.

39 The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

Final thought!

How could any born again believer love God with all His heart, soul and mind and still fight against His Word? Its not possible, only those who are pretenders do this.